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Round The States
New Delhi, 16 April 2008
Karnataka Assembly
Poll
BJP AT LOGGERHEADS
WITH JD (U)
By Insaf
The election scene in Karnataka is hotting up in more ways
than one. NDA partners, the BJP and the JD(U) are suddenly at loggerheads over
seat-sharing. Worse, the stand-off may even have a fall out in Bihar, ahead of the May Assembly poll in the southern state.
The sticky point? The BJP does not want to give the JD (U) even 25 seats it had
contested in 2004 whereas the latter wants more. Confident that it was “leading
the race”, the BJP has declared its first list of 136 seats, inviting the
charge by JD (U) President Sharad Yadav of “tearing to shreds coalition dharma”.
The BJP is also facing a mini revolt from its own party cadres over the
distribution of tickets. Its leaders are being accused of selling tickets to
the “land mafia”. Besides, nine sitting MLAs have been denied tickets and ten
more may face the same fate. A sitting
Lok Sabha member has threatened to quit to protest against the denial of ticket
to a deserving candidate. To top it all, a woman close associate of former
chief minister B S Yeddyurappa has been given a ticket when she doesn’t belong
to the area!
Poll in-charge and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley has since been
rushed to Bangalore for damage control
as also to tackle the popular clamour for film stars in addition to the usual ‘political heavyweights’ All major political
parties appear to be one on exploiting celluloid glamour. In fact, the Congress,
JD (S) and the BJP are vying with each other in roping in film industry folks,
either as candidates or as star campaigners. Many estimate that in about 15
constituencies the tinsel world may upstage party hopefuls. Meanwhile, the
Election Commission too has been put on the alert. It has received complaints
from some political parties that “breweries in neighbouring Goa
have got overwhelming orders and are working overtime.” It has promptly alerted
its observers and asked them to be on the vigil and prevent any flow of liquor.
Importantly, the Election Commission has also decided to deploy a large members
of micro-observers inside polling stations to ensure a free and fair vote and
to reduce dependency on the para military forces. During the Gujarat
poll, about 9,000 micro-observers were deployed. In Karnataka more will be
deployed.
* * * *
Bihar Reshuffle Causes
Fissures
Bihar’s Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar,
asserted his leadership last Sunday with a massive mid-term reshuffle of his
28-month old Ministry. The main aim of the exercise, he later said, was “to
tone up governance during the remaining period of the NDA Government” and
fulfil its promise of “giving good administration and pursue development
vigorously”. It was also made known that the ten Ministers dropped were those
whose performance was found to be “far from satisfactory”. Moreover, the
reshuffle was preceded by meticulous perusal of the performance of all the
Ministers, which itself was preceded by on massive reshuffle of the State
bureaucracy and the police department. But in acting tough and dropping
Ministers, Nitish Kumar appears to have rubbed both his coalition partner, the
BJP, and his own partymen on the wrong side. The BJP is upset that two of its
senior Ministers have been dropped without a word. His own party Ministers are
angry for being labeled as “non-performing”. Nitish Kumar has now tried to
pacify those dropped that they were needed for party work. But it is a pill not
many will swallow easily.
* * * *
ULFA Leader in Bangladesh?
The United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) continues to get
clandestine support from Bangladesh
in its war against India.
Dhaka, no doubt, keeps denying this. Nevertheless,
there are reasons enough for India
to believe that its neighbour both harbours and helps the insurgents. On
Saturday last, the Director-General of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), Shakil Ahmed, formally
confirmed India’s suspicions
during his visit to New Delhi
for the India-Bangladesh Border Coordination Conference. In reply to a question
by the media, he said: the ULFA chief, Paresh Barua was “no longer staying” in
the country. But his choice of words only confirmed what India has been claiming for long, namely that
Paresh Barua was at one time in Bangladesh.
Shakil Ahmed’s comment on Barua came even as the BSF handed over a fresh list
of 117 camps of Indian militant groups operating in Bangladesh. He kept saying that Dhaka would hand over Indian criminals staying in his
country but they had no knowledge of any such camps. Not just that Shakil Ahmed
took the cake when asked about India’s
request for handing over ULFA General Secretary, Anup Chetia. The DG simply put
up his hands to say that the militant was under trial for cases in Bangladesh and
that there was no extradition treaty between the two countries! Ironically India has so
far handed back seven Bangladeshi criminals! Some irony.
* * * *
CPM’s Fraud On Poor
West Bengal’s Accountant General is seeing red in
the State. And, the timing couldn’t be worse for its CPM-led government. Weeks
before the panchayat polls, the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government has been accused
of “alleged corruption and fraud,” in implementing the Indira Awas Yojna—housing
for the poor. Of the 3354 gram
panchayats in the State, about 70 per cent of these are controlled by the CPM. The
latest audit report of the Panchayati Raj institutions ( 2004-2005) by the
State AG, placed in the Assembly, has exposed scandalous irregularities, such
as::of the Rs 37.67 crore spent on building pucca
dwelling units and upgrading huts, in as many as 1,573 gram panchayats not
a single beneficiary was from a BPL family. In 1,328 Gram Panchayats, 68,245
sanitary latrines and in 1,592 panchayats, 78,766 smokeless chullahs were not constructed though the
entire amount of Rs 259.54 crore was shown as spent. Worse, the Minister for
Panchayat and Rural development is alleged to have diverted funds for two local
clubs, which double as CPM offices, from beneficiaries who are dead and gone! Guess, the CPM doesn’t even spare the dead in
its greed to retain power. .
* * * *
Mayawati Ke
Haseen Sapne
There is no stopping BSP leader and Uttar Pradesh chief
minister Mayawati in achieving her ambition-- of becoming the first “Dalit
Prime Minister” --given her latest actions. The stage for the future appears to
having been set last Tuesday in Bhim Nagri celebrations in Agra. A huge replica of India Gate greeted
the visitors and as they walked through to enter the Sammelan grounds, they were awestruck by a 100-feet high
scale-model of Parliament, flanked by Blue elephants (BSP’s symbol) and a tall
plaster statue of B R Ambedkar. Mayawati’s supporters are ecstatic about their
leader’s “vision”. In fact, Behenji is
going all out to undo the damage done
by “another prime ministerial candidate” Rahul Gandhi, to her vote bank, by his
“pro-Dalit overtures” as eating in their homes. The Bhim Nagri celebrations
should send a message to them—that Delhi
is not far. Till then, “she can derive satisfaction” from her own statue, which
she unveiled in Lucknow
on Tuesday last next to that of Kanshi Ram on the plea that her mentor, Kanshi
Ram, wanted this done!.
* * * *
Nizam’s Frozen
Millions
Once the world’s richest man, Hyderabad’s seventh and last Nizam, Osman Ali
Khan, is making waves, some five decades after he passed away. At the Centre of
the buzz are his frozen millions in London’s
Westminster Bank, which have snowballed from £1 million in 1948 to over £ 30
million today. Both India
and Pakistan
have staked claims to the millions. There has even been talk of an out-of-court
settlement. But this is strongly contested by the Nizam’s grandsons and great
grandsons, who claim that the money should go only “to the direct descendents” since
it constituted Osman Ali’s personal wealth. In 1995, the Nizam’s direct
descendents shared a major portion of Rs.600 crore they got after the Centre acquired
the Nizam’s fabulous 173-piece jewellery. Incredible as it may seem, some 1,900
are claiming relationship with the late Nizam, including 470 sons, daughters,
grandsons and grand daughters. The Nizam had six wives, in addition to Pasha, his
first Begum, and 42 concubines. All descendents are claiming to be legal heirs!
----INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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